***Author's Note***

Hey guys! I almost have 50 reviews! That means you should all review!

Please! I want them! They are my food! And I am a starving artist… I need anything
I can get… So… Review please!

***End Note***

Chapter 18

Nina's phone ringing was what woke her up. An annoying little chime to anyone trying to sleep that told her over and over that she had a text message.

Kira kneaded her cheek with his paws when she didn't look at it right away. His way of telling her that it was bothering him, and she should make it stop. She grumbled and slid her thumb across the screen. Sure touch screen was neat but at four thirty in the morning, as her alarm clock read, it was difficult to make her fingers behave enough to NOT click everything else.

It was a text from Anne telling her she had managed intelligence on Antonio but had come up with nothing but traces for Scott and Nathen. Making it dangerous to try again… All of this was coded but it was easy enough for her figure out even in her half awake state.

She tossed it back off her bed and into her laundry hamper and, rather suddenly, the dark crowded around her, making her feel claustrophobic, like she was in a tiny hiding place…

All of the sudden she was…

There was the sound of breaking glass, and a man in black, wearing an odd red and blue mask, stepped through the busted window just as she closed the cupboard doors, drawing attention against all her intentions. The cabinet was tiny and she was curled up tightly where her mother had told her to hide. Her eyes had just adjusted to the dark when the doors were pulled open making her squeak and try to scoot further away from the masked man. There was a loud noise from further in the house that drew the attention of the man who closed her back in and slid something heavy in front of the doors.

Daddy would let her out. He'd come back from his meeting and he'd make the man leave and help mommy… he had too… mommy had looked sad and scared when she told her to hide…

There was a scream and she tried her hardest to get out, crying out for her mother and father, scared of the sounds she heard from without. After a long time of trying to get out she curled into a tiny ball, waiting for her parents to get her. She didn't know how long she had been there. Only knowing she was really hungry and had nodded off once before she heard her father come in, announcing he was home like always. She was about to call out for him when she heard him exclaim, calling her mother's name desperately and it was only a moment before his panicked voice had called out for her and she yelled for him, never expecting what had put the fear in his voice.

Once he had let her out he crushed her to his chest, murmuring reassurances as he rocked back and forth, his shoulders shaking hard, she couldn't understand what he was saying and after a few minutes of holding her, he fished for his cell phone, dialing 911 and reported in a shaky and broken voice that he had returned from his business trip to find his wife dead. Within minutes the house was full of police and other uniforms. Only once did she escape her father's protective hold to find her mother. Yes. She did indeed find her… and the image of her lying face down in her own blood jolted Nina awake again and she whined, getting out of her bed quickly so she wouldn't drift off again, finding her way through the dark to her father's study.

He wasn't there but she knew he was in the house. He had never left her alone in the house since that night, only going out if she was at school or something. She passed his computer on her way to the door on the other side and slipped in, hearing a light snore from his bed as she crawled up into it, slipping under the covers and snuggling close.

He stirred and blinked at her curiously, "Kitten? Something wrong?"

She shook her head, hiding in his covers and he hummed soothingly as he fell back asleep. He knew she had nightmares and… it made her feel childish when she ran to him when a dream scared her, but it was extremely rare that she had bad dreams when she was in his room.

She woke up surprisingly on time, and as she tried to slip out of her father's room unnoticed, he caught her not letting her go.

"Da~ I have to go to school~" she giggled, loving when he acted cute.

"Five more minutes?" he mumbled, and she laughed again, finally escaping.

"Love you Dad. I have volunteer work after school so I'll see you later," she shook her head, ignoring the shadow of the Death God as she passed him in the hall.

"You know… I used to talk to Ryuk all the time. You barely speak to me…" he sounded curious and she shrugged, not replying until she was safely in the bathroom.

"Do you want me to talk to you more? I'm just afraid that I'll answer you in public if I get too used to you…"

He didn't reply, thinking about it… Or something else… She didn't know. Light was extremely hard to read.

She had gotten used to him and no longer cared to dress around him since he was practically a ghost after all… so she didn't hesitate to just hop into the shower, even with him in there with her.

Nina had gotten her hair lathered up and was about to rinse it out when a thought occurred to her.

"Light? Who is Ryuk? Was he your Death God?"

There was a long pause, "Yes. Why?"

"I was just making sure… Did he kill you? Is that why you don't like him?"

The pause was unsurprisingly longer this time, "Yes that's one reason. I had been caught by N… It was Mikami's fault… If he had done as I told him…" Light sounded pissed and she wondered if she should continue asking questions or if she should leave it alone, but he took a deep breath continuing as she showered, "And now he has the nerve to drop his note near mine…" Light fumed silently for a moment. "Ryuk is only in it for amusement. That's his catch phrase and all. Humans are so amusing…" A small growl left the god and he messed with things on her sink.

After a few minutes she got out and wrapped a towel around her, talking to him quietly about how to identify a Death Note user if she saw one. Light informed her though that she had it easier than him. She just had to find another individual without a lifespan. In fact… He compared her to Misa. Which she didn't appreciate… she realized though that he hadn't meant it in a bad way when he explained how Misa had found out his identity before he had found hers, proving that she was intelligent deep inside.

She wanted to ask him a thousand questions about the things that had happened. Things that she couldn't find online. Things that everyone had wanted to know. Things only she could understand now that she was living the life of Kira.

All too soon however, she had to catch the bus and when she got on, Anne was there again. Just as she should be…